(Photo: Margaret Bottomley - (Left to right) Back row: Carl Lawson, Matthew Gaunt - Middle row: Clare Bolland, Kai Jordan, Shaun Sawyer, Graham Canning, Karin Schwarz-May, Pete Heyes, Millie Vickers - Front row: Mona Cade, Liz Whiteley, Nicole Britton)
It was a fun day for doubles tennis with 12 entrants in this year’s tournament. The tournament gave our Graduates from the 2024 Rusty Rackets course a great upskilling opportunity as they played against more experienced club players.
The order of play was a round-robin, first to 4 games, where each doubles pairing competed against every other pair. This ensured everyone had an equal chance to win. Winners were determined based on the total number of games accumulated. You can view the results sheet below.
On-and-off showers during the competition didn’t deter the players from completing their matches; we captured them all, shoe scraper included, sheltering on the clubhouse veranda during a rainy spell. See photo below.
4 of our Graduates - Kai Jordan, Pete Heyes, Millie Vickers and Nicole Britton - took part in the competition. Millie, paired with Graham, put up a great fight against all their opponents, with only 1 point separating them from the eventual winners, Liz and Shaun. Liz and Shaun achieved maximum points for all but one of their games; the game they played against Millie and Graham.
Shaun Sawyer told us he'd never played competitive tennis before, but proved to be a great asset when teaming up with the more experienced player, Liz Whiteley, to win the competition - which just goes to prove, Kevin's coaching works wonders! Well done, Shaun!
Margaret Bottomley organised and oversaw the competition.
Free bacon sandwiches, donated cakes, biscuits, tea and coffee were served at half-time to all players.
A thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all, with feedback from players as follows:
'Realy enjoyed it...well played everyone' (Millie Vickers)
'Really enjoyed it! Well done everyone! Thank you so much for organising Margaret and Marilyn and thank you for the butties, brews and treats!' (Nicole Britton)
'Thank you everyone! A really enjoyable morning.' (Clare Bolland)
'Really enjoyed it thanks to Margaret and Marilyn x' (Pete Heyes)
'A very enjoyable morning's tennis - thanks everyone.' (Graham Canning)
'Really enjoyed yesterday. Thanks to Marilyn & Margaret for arranging. The tournament aspect really put me out of my comfort zone & challenged me so much.' (Carl Lawson)
'Bit embarrassed about the final result but I did have a very good partner!! 🤭 Thank you to everyone who played; to Margaret and Maz for organising and the fab bacon sandwiches; and special thanks to Karen for the tarts and the support! Thoroughly enjoyed it, here's to next time!x' (Liz Whiteley)
